Activision Blizzard

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Targets Higher Margins by 2030

Asha Sharma, Microsoft’s new head of Xbox, outlined in an internal memo goals to widen Xbox’s margins to surpass rivals by mid-2030 and to bring margins back in line with peers by next year. Sharma — who replaced Phil Spencer in February — signaled strategic moves including investing more in Minecraft, pursuing global partnerships (including in China), expanding casual games via Activision Blizzard’s King, and holding studios and functions accountable for player and revenue growth. The memo follows a 10% quarterly revenue decline for Xbox and comes amid prior actions: subscription price cuts for Game Pass, layoffs and divestitures of studios, and Microsoft’s 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Founder PR Guide: Don't Hit the NOS Too Soon

An a16z Speedrun newsletter shares PR guidance for early-stage founders from Lester Chen. Chen reframes PR as a test to validate whether others find value in a company's story, warns against premature PR ("hitting the NOS too soon"), and recommends matching press outreach to the intentional audience rather than chasing viral attention. The piece notes earned media's long tail—LLMs and search synthesize coverage into company signals—and highlights tradeoffs between paying for professional PR help versus DIY efforts. Lulu Cheng Meservey's "go direct" idea (founders telling their own story) is referenced as part of the broader shift toward founder-driven channels.

Xbox Maps the Gaming Advertising Ecosystem

An Adweek podcast episode with Claire Nance, Senior Director of Marketing Communications at Microsoft’s Xbox Media Solutions, explores gaming’s evolution into a mainstream advertising channel. The discussion highlights 3.6 billion global gamers and roughly 80% U.S. participation, the ubiquity of mobile gaming, and the importance of player-first ad experiences. Nance describes frameworks for brands to enter gaming (in-game, adjacent, outside), emphasizes non-disruptive formats like rewarded video and playable ads, and recounts her non-linear career path including early work building Activision Blizzard’s ads business before Microsoft’s acquisition.